Linda Olsson our Author of the Month, answers questions from the Book Badges Book Club based at Hurley Books, St Austell, Cornwall.

1. I loved the book but wondered about the title, which is very simple. Did you ever consider calling it by another title?

Absolutely. This is the US title. The original New Zealand title is 'Let me sing you gentle songs' which is a line from the poem that Astrid reads to Veronika by the lake late in the book, 'Poor little child' by Swedish poet Karin Boye. This was also the title when the book was released in Sweden: 'Nu vill jag sjunga dig milda sånger'.

2. Astrid's story is very powerful, where did you get the inspiration for the story?

The characters in my novel came to me the way any person does. Gradually and slowly. I saw Astrid very clearly in her dark house, but I didn't know her to begin with. I certainly knew nothing about her past, and when it was revealed to me I had to treat it with respect. Her personality may have borrowed certain traits from a few older women that I have had the fortune to know, specifically my two grandmothers, who both in different ways had to fend for themselves in life.

3. What was the reason for giving so little explanation or exploration of Astrid's infanticide? We are told a lot about Veronika's past but of Astrid's more shocking revelation we are left with only brief sentences. Half the group felt that you had given sufficient details for us to understand the events, the other half felt confused and angry with Astrid. How did you think people would respond to Astrid?

I didn't really consider how people would react. I had to write Astrid's story the way it was revealed to me. When I am asked to explain I always begin by saying that any reader has the right to interpret Astrid's behaviour in his or her own way. There is no 'right' interpretation. As for me, I do think that Astrid is driven by a multitude of feelings, and that they are subconscious. On the one hand, she sees herself in the child, and as with the little bird in the forest, she feels that death would be better than a life exposed to evil - the kind of life she has had herself. She might also be uncertain of her own ability to protect her child, and in this respect see her mother in herself. On the other hand, I don't think there is any real cause for her concern about the child. I think what Astrid sees in the nursery is a father that looks at his child with genuine love. But this is unbearable for Astrid. The child is Astrid's one belonging, the only thing she considers totally hers. In a sense it is her. On the wedding night her husband told her how everything - including Astrid - belonged to him. Astrid cannot change this, but she can deprive him of the child. This is a terrible cause for her action, and I hope I am wrong in thinking that it might have been part of the complex forces that drive Astrid.

4.  I read this as a story about lost mothers and daughters and felt that this was the relationship that was built between Astrid and Veronika, others in the group thought that this was more a celebration of female friendship. How did you view the relationship between the two women?

I think it is both. Just as I have dedicated my novel to Anna-Lisa, my grandmother, my friend.

5. Strawberries feature in all of Astrid's memories. Did you intend them to be symbolic?

For a Scandinavian they simply are. In Swedish the word 'strawberry patch', smultronställe, also means any treasured place, real or imagined. Wild strawberries are hard to find and very small, and they have a very short season. But they are sweeter than any other fruit.